Phoenix
by Faceplanted
Summary: Wherein Loki is fire (and isn't that ironic, a child of fire and ice?) and the world is kindling. And Ragnarok is more or less inevitable anyway, the universe ends and begins and ends again (and again and again) and, every one is the same, but different. The world must, will, end. As a bonus, there's a small cameo from Tony Stark.
1. Fire

Phoenix

Chapter One

Fire

I am fire.

And what a _joke_ that is, the frost-born _beast_ of the flames. But I am fire, as surely as Thor is thunder and lightning and sunshine, for the flames are my soul and being, the inferno that thrums just beneath my frozen skin, fire and ice-

-hm, it makes sense, simply because it's so impossible. I am both fire and ice, because I am chaos, and what better chaos is there, besides warring natures housed in one body?

I am fire, and fire burns. Fire spreads like an ink-stain upon parchment, and leaves destruction in its wake. I am fire, and I will burn.

Burn any and all I touch.

I used to wonder why, why the stories of Ragnarok are whispered, because the very notion of ending everything made no sense. They hated me, on the basis of old wives tales and the babblings of three old crones crouched over a well. Why, I wondered, would I do something that made no sense?

Why, indeed.

I am fire, and it is in the very nature of fire to burn.

Fire brings life, but what life can I bring when my own is a patchwork of ill-begotten woes? Fire is change, and I was thwarted at every change I brought. Fire is hope, but what hope can I bring when every word I speak is perceived a lie?

All that's left to me is to burn. And burn I shall.

I am the end-bringer, children of the worlds. You shall burn.

**CYCLE AFTER CYCLE AFTER CYCLE**

**WHAT OF YOUR PAST, LIESMITH?**

**REMEMBER, LIESMITH, THE SECOND CYCLE DRAWS TO AN END**

I have wrought destruction. I am Loki, Loki who used the bridge to attack Jotunheim, Loki who attempted to take over Midgard, Loki who grew up believing a lie, Loki who

Loki who died for his brother?

(_I am not dead. But I will be. I want to be. It will be such incredible _fun._)_

I am Loki who told Thor (_not my brother_) I was proud and hurt him and burned the world he loved.

I love him, my not-brother.

I also burn.

**REMEMBER, REMEMBER**

What am I doing?

No one knows I'm alive, Thor doesn't know, Fa-Odin doesn't know, why am I

But I want to burn…

…but I could start anew, afresh, wander the worlds as I please

And yet

I want

To burn everything. Why? I am fire. Fire burns.

**REMEMBER**

One might wonder how I plan to do this.

It is simple. I fell, and I listened I did. I am that child who listens to the wordless whispers of the wind, not quite there but with a definite presence that carves out the worlds. I taste the colours of the sky and my eyes have always been trained on the endless pitch black of that void between the stars. My fingers know the texture of Yggdrassil as well as they know my mother's touch.

I have fallen through that waste-space between stars, encased in shadow.

I know what lives in that shadow.

I also know how to free them.

As I fell, I saw many things. But these-

A wolf bound in chains

A rotting corpse-woman upon a desolate throne

A massive serpent coiled in the seas of Midgard

(A_nd me, but different, bound in chains, venom form some massive beast dripping upon my brow, as a woman held a bowl aloft to keep it from burning his—my—skin_.)

They sought the end as much as I, the corpse-woman told me. I am not alone in my misery, they said. They detested Asgard, wanted the worlds to burn as they have in the past. They would help me, she said.

She told me she loved me. They all did, she said.

(_who are you I've seen you before but I don't remember I want to remember who_)

I heard all this as I fell, but before my outstretched fingers could do more than brush her bony ones, I plummeted past.

The Queen of Helheim, she was.

Ha, I have an army. Because I listened, listened though many of her rotted words must have been lies. However, they are sweet lies, far less cruel than the golden weavings I was enshrouded in for so long.

It matters not. For I have kindling for my flame.

(_Are you proud, mother? Look what I'm doing. Your not-son _can _be great)_

(_I want everything to burn, mother_)

(_I want them to die, mother_)

(_It won't hurt, mother. No one will be hurt. I'm sorry for Midgard, mother, I don't know what I was thinking. This is much better, mother, they will all die and it will not hurt_)

(_I'm not sorry, mother. I'm coming to see you, mother._)

(_I'm happy, mother_)

I am Loki, endbringer. I am Loki, who has greeted Death twice. She let me go with only a kiss on the head and a whisper telling me that she looks forward to seeing me.

(_"Who are you? Where am I?"_

"_The Void, Liesmith. You fell."_

"_I let go. I wanted to…am I dead?"_

"_Not yet. But when you do, I will be here."_)

(_"Hello again, Loptr."_

"_Who…you…you are Death."_

"_I am."_

"_Am I dead now?"_

"_No. Not yet. But when you do-"_

"_You will be here?"_

"_As I was every time you died in the past."_)

I am Loki. I will burn the world.

And then I will sleep.

**CYCLES PAST, THE CHILDREN OF YESTERDAY**

**MOURN THER DEATHS THAT NEVER WERE, LIESMITH**

**AVENGE YOUR CHILDREN, WHO WERE NEVER BORN**

I'm at the edge of the worlds.

I sat on Asgard's throne, twice. I let it go.

Why?

(_burnburnburn the worlds must burn_)

I…I don't..

I can't think. I'm confused, but I'm resolute. The stars above, the winds, the voices in my mind all say the same thing-

**REMEMBER, LIESMITH**

**AVENGE AND BURN**

**YOU ARE THE ENDBRINGER**

**THIS IS YOUR FATE**

-and I can't breathe. There is a universe expanding in my chest, stars exploding behind my closed eyelids, a black hole beneath my feet, sucking me in, and around me is the suffocating black of the space between stars.

I want everything to burn. I want to be the flame that lights the universe's pyre. I want to dance in the ashes, and laugh at their corpses.

I simply cannot fathom why.

(_what reason do you need make them hurt for the hurts they gave you revenge revenge revenge make them burn and all things die anyway this is more satisfying fire burns you are fire so burnburnburn like the never ending flames of Muselpheim MAKE THEM DIE_)

But I must-

(_"I love you," she whispered, as I slipped through stars. "I love you more than you can fathom."_)

-because I am fire, and fire burns.

**BE THE INFERNO, CHILD**

**LOKI, LOPTR, SILVERTOUNGUE, LIESMITH, SKYWALKER, ENDBRINGER**

**CHILD OF FROST AND STORM, OF ASGARD **

**BROTHER TO THE ALLFATHER AND THE THUNDRERER**

**MOTHER OF MONSTERS AND FATHER OF BEASTS**

I can't breathe-

I feel

Myself

Burning

I stare out at the stars stretched out before me like infinite eternity. I close my eyes for a few seconds, calming myself (_I CAN'T BREATHE I CAN'T BREATHE I'M DROWNING IN SPACE I'M BURNING I NEED TO DESTROY_) before opening them again. My fists unclench, and I take a step, foot hovering over the space, the other still planted firmly in the desolate landscape of the Dark World. The portal opened around me never seemed so much like a gaping maw before, a mouth opening up to the universe.

I step into space, and a path opens before me, carved out into the very fabric of reality. Far ahead, a tree stands vast and endless, golden, gleaming and infinite-

(_homehomehome I am home this is home I belong here_)

-and I start walking.

**STEP INTO THE FLAMES**

**ONE HUNDRED STEPS, LOKI, SON OF NO ONE**

**ONE HUNDRED STEPS, COUNT THEM AS YOU GO**

**ONE HUNDRED STEPS INTO THE INFERNO**

** ONE HUNDRED STEPS UNTIL THE END **

As I walk, I count my steps.

As I count, I see things.


	2. Steps

**ONE STEP FOR LAUFEY**

_A man, no, a woman, giant or giantess, I don't-Jotun! He's—she's Jotun! And-is he (she?) Laufey-King? What-IS THIS MY FATHER OR MY MOTHER WHERE IS THE LOGIC_

**ONE STEP FOR FARBAUTI**

_A woman? A man? This is as confusing as the last person (Laufey, who was apparently a woman, what) and why is he(she) changing forms (shapeshifter?) and- Jotun! He(she) is Jotun!_

_Is he(she) my_

_Mother(Father)?_

**ONE STEP FOR THE WAR IN MIDGARD**

_Snow, snow, snow, two armies at a standstill, Jotun and Aesir, Odin standing as gloriously as ever, spear in hand, Laufey holding the Casket, a blizzard whipping both parties as mortals watched with fearful eyes_

**ONE STEP FOR THE ABANDONED BOY**

_War raging, a figure runs in (JOTUN), gasps and sets a small bundle down on the ice. The Jotun's armed (Laufey? He's a man), covered in blood and wounds. He whispers something, runs out, battle outside._

**ONE STEP FOR THE KING THAT FOUND HIM**

_An icy temple, a child left to freeze, a king with an eye missing straggles by, hears the boy mewling. (ME, ME, THAT'S ME) He picks him up, blue turns to white, red to green, laughter_

_Odin looks so happy, cradles the boy _

_Smiles_

_(WHAT AM I SEEING)_

**ONE STEP FOR THE BOY WHO GREW UP AN OUTSIDER**

_Who's talking? Why am I counting? Who are you?_

_A boy, large tome tucked under his arm, walking past a group of children wrestling in the dirt. Taunts follow, he turns his nose up and turns a corner. He smirks to himself, fingers weaving a spell once out of sight._

_A cry rings out, "LOKI, YOU LITTLE RAT, GET BACK HERE!"_

_(…I remember that. I turned them into pigs. Serve them right, playing like hogs in mud. Thor was furious with me…how is this relevant to anything?)_

**ONE STEP FOR THE JOY**

"_LOKI, I AM GOING TO CATCH YOU!"_

"_NAY, FOR I AM LOKI NO LONGER! I AM SIGUNDR, THE GREATEST MAGE IN ALL THE NINE!"_

"…_I'll still defeat you."_

"_With that? A wooden sword? You jest, Prince."_

"_I don't need a sword."_

"_What do you-h-hey…Thor, th-that's aha—ahaha, that's che-cheating! No—THOR—ahaha—AHAHAHA-STOP IT-THOR! TICKLING IS CHEATING! A—ahahahHHAHAHAHAHA-"_

**ONE STEP FOR CHILDHOOD**

_Two boys, one golden, one dark, the elder holding his younger brother, asleep as the leaves fall off a tree_

**ONE STEP FOR BROTHERHOOD**

"_I don't care if you can't spar, Loki."_

"_I can, I know I can. I'll get better, Thor. I'll work hard, I'll be just like you."_

"_No, Loki. I don't want you to be me. I like you, brother."_

"_You may like me, Thor, but the rest of Asgard disagrees."_

"'_Tis not an issue. Any one that insults you shall have to do so in the face of my sword."_

"_I'll hold you to that."_

**ONE STEP FOR CHILDREN WHO SOUGHT ADVENTURE**

_(What is going on? I don't understand. I'm seeing things-memories, from a life half-forgotten-)_

_Two boys, brushing manhood by their fingertips, running screaming from a large beast, flames chasing them as they scrambled for escape. _

"_LOPTR," the elder shrieked. "YOU IDIOT!"_

"_IT WASN'T ME, IT WAS TYR!"_

"_TYR DOESN'T KNOW ANY SEIDR!"_

"_I'M NOT THE ONLY MAGIC-WEILDER HERE, ODIN!"_

_(Wait, that isn't Thor. Looks like Thor, but not. What…? But that's me, I'm sure. Child-me with child-Odin? What manner of illusion is this?)_

_(It's-changing?)_

"_THOR, we almost got away with it!"_

"_I'm sorry-hah-brother, b-but…hah…not all of us are as lightfooted as you!"_

_They gasped for breath, golden apples clutched in hand, backs pressed against the wall of the cave they sought refuge in. "You are an oaf," Loki spat. "Idunn will have our heads."_

_Thor grinned. "But, brother! We got them!"_

"_What use is eternal life if Father is just going to murder us when we get back? I am never agreeing to anything you say again."_

"_But Loki…"_

_(This is right. I remember this. But, what-)_

**ONE STEP FOR MAGIC**

_Green, green, green, the colour of magic that belonged in him, interspersed with that joyous gold that reminded him of idle days stealing apples from murderously possessive aunts. _

_Green and whispers in the wind and the taste of the sky and stars that filled the universe and secret paths that no one saw and the beauty of weaving spell after spell in the light of the cosmos._

_(I can't breathe-)_

_(I need to keep walking.)_

_(Eighty-nine steps to go.)_

**ONE STEP FOR MANY NAMES**

_(I don't understand.)_

"_Who are you?"_

_(I am Loki.)_

"_I am Loptr"_

_(When did I-?)_

_ "I am Skywalker."_

_ "I am Logi."_

_ "I am the endbringer."_

_ "I am Lokasenna."_

_ "Hey, my name's Luke. What's yours?"_

_(What?)_

"_I am Loki Odinsson, brother to Thor!"_

"_I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."_

"_I am Loki Laufeyson, and you, Odin, are a bloody oathbreaking arse."_

_(What? These voices, they are all mine, but-)_

"_I'm…I'm no one. No one important."_

"_HERMES! YOU BLOODY WELL KNOW WHO I AM, I'M ERIS'S FRIEND! NOW GET DOWN HERE AND GIVE ME MY HELMET BACK!"_

**ONE STEP FOR CYCLING**

**AGAIN**

**AND AGAIN**

**AND AGAIN**

"_What is this?"_

"_Ragnarok, Odin. Vengance."_

"_Luke, what're you doing?!"_

"_I'm sorry, Tony. But the world needs to end, and I need to do it."_

"_Logi, what treachery is this?"_

"_Fire, my friend, and it is I that will light it."_

"_Father, what would you have us do?"_

"_We will burn the worlds, little ones. Not because we hate it, but because we must."_

"_Who are you? Why are you doing this?"_

"_Silly mortal. This is the end," the Loki speaking paused. "Again. Also, I am Loki, and this is my glorious purpose."_

He understands now.

He is Loki, but he is also a million other people. But he is Loki, the same Loki who wrought mischief at every turn and laughed and danced in flames.

He is Loki, and it is he that must end the world.

Again.

And he has children (_I love you more than you can fathom_) who are forever waiting for the chance to burn the worlds. And he is brother to Thor, brother to Odin as well (_you promised never to hurt me, once. Then you tied me to a rock by my son's entrails. And then you lied to me my whole life. The oath may have been in another life, but you deserve this.)_

Step after step, he takes, feet soundless against the golden path that did not exist, the stars laughing above him.

He takes in every illusion wrought after every step, amazed by the mastery of it all.

He remembers.

_He remembers._

**ONE STEP FOR CHANGE**

**ONE STEP FOR THE SAME MISTAKES**

**ONE STEP FOR **_**LIFE**_

He has been here before, the steps coming like clockwork. He has been here countless times, the path worn and familiar.

**ONE STEP FOR DEATH**

**ONE STEP FOR LOSSES**

**ONE STEP FOR INNOCENCE LOST**

**ONE STEP FOR ENVY**

_(I killed Baldr? Baldr was Odin's son?)_

_(Do you blame me? All that fuss over that brat, when they killed my babies? I don't regret that.)_

**ONE STEP FOR AN OATH BROKEN**

_(And they retaliate to my vengeance with more vengeance. Child-killer.)_

**ONE STEP FOR LOVE**

_(Oooh I had lovers?)_

_(Ah…Sygin…was…my wife? What? She hates me. To the point of nearly killing me with her demonic glares.)_

_(What? Who is that? A Frost Giant?...she's beautiful. Good god, I was a child! A giggling adolescent! WHO DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO HUNT I AM SO ASHAMED OF MY PAST SELF)_

_(IS THAT A HORSE)_

_(IS THAT THIAZI)_

_(Oh my god, that's Eris, the Olympian, I can't look, I'm laughing, I can't breathe)_

_(WHY IS SIF THERE)_

_(IS THAT STARK)_

_(I can't look. No, I draw the line here.)_

_(Wait…parents. Thor. Farbauti. Laufey. Odin. Frigga. These are people I loved. I can breathe.)_

_(Wait, why is Hermes here BEGONE, I NEVER EVEN LIKED YOU, YOU STOLE MY HELMET)_

_(My children-Hel, that woman in the Void! And Fen…Fenris? Oh, my poor child. And Jormagundr. And Sleipnir…And Vali and Narvi…ODIN I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD WHY ARE YOU HERE, HM?)_

**ONE STEP FOR FIRE**

**ONE STEP FOR MISCHIEF**

**ONE STEP FOR PRIDE**

**ONE STEP FOR THE SKIES**

**ONE STEP FOR CURIOSITY**

_(I was mortal?)_

_(IS THAT STARK)_

_(…IS THAT A BIFROST)_

_(DID WE BUILD A BIFROST)_

_(NORNS, WHAT)_

**ONE STEP FOR TRUST**

"_Hey, Luke?"_

"_Mm? Wh—what's this?"_

"_This is the access code to override all the security in the Tower. Even the lab."_

"_But…even Pepper doesn't…"_

"_I know. But you're my bro."_

"_Bruce is your bro."_

"_He's my science bro. You're literally my soulmate, man."_

_Loki looked down at the paper, and grasped Stark in a tight embrace. His shoulders shuddered._

"_Stop cryin' you sap. Or I'm gonna cry. Iron Man can't cry."_

"_Shut up. Iron Man may not cry, but Tony Bloody Stark can."_

**`ONE STEP FOR TEARS**

"_Luke, what're you doing?"_

_Stark was in his metal suit, the part that covered his face removed. His eyes were wild, and the sky around them glowed the red of burning embers._

_Loki was standing on the top of that tower, a gateway to the Tree open behind him, a woman (HELA, MY LOVELYLOVE) by his side. _

"_I'm sorry, Tony," he whispered, voice thick with tears. "But the world needs to end."_

_He looked up, and swallowed. "And I need to do it."_

_(Well, that hurt)_

**ONE STEP FOR DEATH**

**ONE STEP FOR THE KEY**

**ONE STEP FOR FORGOTTEN PATHS**

**ONE STEP FOR THE TREE**

**ONE STEP FOR THE CHILDREN RIPPED**

_(And that. That hurts, as well.)_

He's running now, gasping with exertion as he raced down a path that shimmers a gold far more eternal then even Asgard. The words are whipping whispers against his ears, images blurring into one another.

His blood is singing.

He is fire, and he wants to dance.

The stars tell him a story, as he runs down a path winding through the cracks in the universe.

He laughs, throws up his arms in joyous abandon.

"I'm going to end the world!"

He pauses, but does not cease his running. "Perhaps that was inappropriate?"

**ONE STEP FOR THE NORNS**

**THE WONDER**

**REMEMBERING**

**WHISPERING**

**THE WIND**

And then he sees it, far ahead, branches vast and wide and entwined with the skies and larger than any other.

And he is laughing, and his blood is singing, and he could dance with a joy that is so fierce it is vicious. He is fire, and he is racing like the wind, and he is burning.

He looks at the Tree, and thinks that he is home, at long last.

**ONE STEP**

He is home. He stops running abruptly, breath coming in little giggling gasps, eyes wide. He looks down, and his skin is blue. He laughs harder.

He stops, and his blood sings.

He looks up at the Tree, vast and eternal and immense. He smiles widely, fingers outstretched. (_LOOK I'M BLUE_)

"I remember," he breathes, voice laced with fire. "I am Loki."

He raises his foot.

**FOR**

"I am Loki, and I am home. I am Loki, and this is the end," his smile softens, fire dimmed for the moment. The inferno in his eyes clears, and he shouts, "Come, my children that never were! Our time has come!"

**THE**

He waits, mid-step, for the answer.

"Let us fly."

**END**

"About time as well-I hope the next one isn't as tiring. Come along, children. Let us show the Realms their end."


	3. Rebirth

The leaves filter the light until there is a faint glow over his skin, dappled patches of brightness leaking through the canopy overhead. It's a day that is hot in the most awful way; sticky and airless and intrinsically lethargic.

They're both sprawled under that huge tree in Luke's backyard, because Tony doesn't want to deal with Howard and Luke's in trouble with his dad (again, for, like, the billionth time). They're both sweating, and too fucking lazy to move, a tangle of Luke's long limbs and Tony's stockier ones.

Tony's talking, because the even the goddamn end of the world isn't capable of shutting Tony Stark up. He's going on and on about how he wants his new baby to sound badass, but, y'know, robot-y.

His 'babies' are all Artificial Intelligence units he's developed from scratch, with only Luke for aid. Luke's the only guy he'd trust with this sort of shit, the tech that is kinda his life.

The first was Dum-E, who can't do shit but is awesome simply cause they made him. And there's You, and Butterfingers and TERRA the Terminator (that happened cause Luke was high and spent hours creating a bot for the sole purpose of getting on his dad's nerves).

And now, JARVIS. It stood for Just Another Rather Very Intelligent System; okay, it was a shit name, but Tony wants a tribute to the real Jarvis and it was better than Totally Epic Robotic Rover of Awesomeness.

And he's been weighing the merits of a Russian woman versus a cowboy accent versus a British butler.

And Luke hasn't spoken a damn word for a fucking hour and that causes Tony to slowly trail off with a suspicious look on his face.

"I'm thinkin' I'll program it to call you His Royal Highness of Asshollery."

Luke grunts.

"We'll invite Amora over. Every damn day."

Luke doesn't react.

Tony rolls onto his side and regards him with that can be termed as a very nasty stink eye. Luke is staring into space with the kind of stare that means he's thinking.

(Last time Luke had that look, the whole of Hammer Corp found a video in their inboxes that depicted Justin Hammer dirty dancing on Luke's kitchen table. Tony is _terrified _of that look.)

Luke doesn't move. He's lost, and unmoving, and looks almost scared.

Okay, now Tony's kinda freaked out. "The hell, man? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Tone," Luke says, quietly, lowly, voice scratchy and husky and frightened and small and so many things that sets off a bunch off alarms in Tony's head. "I had a dream."

"We all dream, Luke. Every damn night."

Luke ignores him, and lies there, and Tony feels like there's something closing in on his throat, though he doesn't know why. The sudden, blatant fear in Luke makes him scared because Luke's never scared because he has the self-preservation instinct of a two-year-old raised in a severely sheltered environment. And that makes Tony's heart beat faster and his goddamn adrenal glands are stimulated even though neither of them have moved.

"What happened?" Tony breathes, and his voice is shaky. "Luke, has something happened?"

"In my dream," says Luke, "I was fire. And I burned."

"You were on fire?"

"No…I _was_ fire. And I was burning everything."

And then they're silent, because Luke's scared and Tony has no idea what the fuck he was supposed to say, because what the fuck are you supposed to say to that?

"And…" Tony squeezes Luke's hand, and they're both shaking, and Tony doesn't know why. "You're scared?"

"I am," Luke whispers. "But not because of that. I'm scared because I was happy. In the dream, I was fucking dancing, and the world was burning, and I w_as dancing in the ashes."_

This is fucked up.

They lie there, and Luke's killing Tony's hand, he's clinging onto it like it's a lifeline. And maybe it is.

Tony knows Luke isn't normal, from his little smiles and zone-outs and how fucking amazing his brain is and the way he knows things he shouldn't and how he's a damn shadow, and he was pretty much mischief personified. And this is just another jarring result of his severely fucked up imagination. Tony knows imagination, and knows that Luke has it in an abundance that isn't mentally stable.

This is just another weird Luke dream, and they'll both forget it soon, when Tony's programming JARVIS and Luke's sneaking in lines of code that will probably make him a bucket of witticisms and sass.

But Tony feels something, something he can't name, as they both lie there.

For a frightening moment, he feels tiny. And that's weird, because Tony Stark is damn huge, but in that fraction of a second that they will probably forget very soon, he feels like a speck of dust.

And Luke, his Luke, Luke who is closer to him than he can dare contemplate, Luke who is tattooed onto his mind, every heartbeat, is a sandstorm.

Tony is a moth, and Luke is a flame. And he isn't a candle flame-he's a sun.

And years later, they will be closer, and they will be ripped apart. Years later, though Tony can't know it now, he will have a hole in his chest that glows and Luke will be like shattered glass; broken, sharp, and beautiful.

And years later, Luke will know that he isn't Luke, was never Luke, though he is Luke and was always meant to be Luke. Years later, Luke will be Loki, always was Loki.

Neither of them can know it, though.

Years later, Luke will burn, and take the world down with him. Years later, Luke will rise from the ashes-a phoenix.

Though, for now, Tony blinks himself out of that jarring fear that makes his heart twist.

"Jeez, dude, calm the fuck down. If you ever want to burn the world down, I'll dance in the ashes with you."

Luke smiles, "I'll hold you to that, Stark."

"Whatever," Tony says dismissively. "What do you think I should do to JARVIS's voice, though? A me-stimulation?"

"God, no. One Tony Stark is enough."

"Just my voice, Luke!"

"Your voice grates on my nerves."

"You have _wet dreams _about my voice."

Luke retches, and they both laugh.

(But Luke feels-feels strange, like his steps are measured, and when he closes his eyes he sees a vast tree that maps out the cosmos, and feels chaos and death at his fingertips.)


End file.
